No, they are not. But from personal experience in the last couple years, I twisted off the drive stud on a new Craftsman 12" or 14" breaker bar (whatever length the standard 3/8" breaker is) by hand. I didn't even get a chance to put a cheater pipe on it, or whack it with the BFH, or anything. One hand on the socket, one hand on the bar, heave, and splat. Twisted it right off. And I get chrome splinters and cuts all the time from the flaky finishes.

90% of my tools are old Craftsman stuff I inherited from my dad, and the 15-year-old Craftsman socket set I bought back then has been great. But the stuff from the last 5 years seems to be not up to par.

Since i'm poor, i don't have money to buy an entire Matco or Snap-On compliment of tools. (Is even THEIR stuff all made in the US?)

Craftsman hand tools are made in China.

Oops.

If there is a domestic-made product at an equivalent price and equivalent (superior, preferably) quality, i will buy it. Otherwise, i worked hard for my money, and i'll buy the best i can afford. No wake-up call necessary.

really do wish I could afford SO, Matco, etc... (assuming the question 92CelicaHalfTrac asked) but I can't ... so I tend to buy Craftsman most of the time ... Pittsburgh some of the time (the store is much farther away and IIRC the warranty is a mail in... might be wrong about that) + there's a Sears store just about everywhere you go... ++ K-Mart is now a branch of Sears +++ Ace Hardware (5 min away) carries Craftsman tools.....

Although I must admit, Cornwell is probably the best in straight socket quality, both impact and chrome, for a very economical price. You can look at the sales flyer off their site for prices. I prefer Matco for any impact swivels. MAC is just rebranded overseas sourced Stanley.

itsarebuild wrote:
NOT TO BRING THIS BACK, BUT......
i was just on the HF website and they do not show the dunwoody store. is it open yet? i will be going OTP this weekend and if they are open i need to shop a little.

On the drive by tonight they are definitley not open yet, the full lighted sign is now hung, there is a "NOW HIRING" sign in the window, the doors were open but the inside was filled with construction/contractor equipment, they're building the walls, lighting, etc. as we speak. I'd give it another month, but will try to keep posted, and I too noticed no word online yet about the store opening...

bravenrace wrote:
Hey, now you can buy more cheap chinese tools that only work longer than Craftsman!

FTFY.

What tools are you specifically referring to?

I'll tell you what I tell my customers: Give me an endless supply of little chinese political prisoners sitting on cardboard boxes working 14 hour shifts, and I'll be able to compete with "made in china." Until then "Made (WELL) in America" is goin to be out of most people's reach. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

bravenrace wrote:
Hey, now you can buy more cheap chinese tools that only work longer than Craftsman!

FTFY.

What tools are you specifically referring to?

The ratchets, so far. I've split a craftsman socket or two, but i blame that mostly on me, and i don't actually have any HF sockets yet.

\

That's interesting. I was an engineer for the company that produces Craftsman's hand tools. We tested all kinds of professional tools and some consumer grade tools to compare to Craftsman.
We did ultimate strength and cycle testing, metallurgical analysis, and many other tests.
That was quite a while ago, but I would be really surprised if HF ratchets are better than Craftsman. I'm not doubting your experience, I'm just suggesting that maybe your experience is more the exception than the rule. In any case, are HF tools warrantied for life?

Oh, and Craftsman tools are berkeleying garbage. Maybe things went downhill after you left. To quote Tommy Boy(?) I can take a E36 M3 in a box and stamp a guarantee on it. It's still a guaranteed piece of E36 M3.